Architect Sean Lockyer designed a 5,760-square-foot concrete, stucco, and ipe home for a couple and their three children in the Southern California desert town of Indian Wells. “Our idea,” says Lockyer, “was to maximize the view and capture as much of the outdoor space, from property line to property line, as possible.” He chose cast-in-place concrete and masonry along with steel, glass, and ipe (Brazilian walnut), an especially durable wood that can withstand the triple-digit heat of an Indian Wells summer, as his core materials. The deck slices through a yard planted with palms, fruit trees, acacias, desert grasses, yucca, and other drought-hardy species. This originally appeared in Vacation Home in the California Desert is a Modernist Oasis.

Ipe Walkway and Steel Gate at Indian Summer house in Southern California

Awesome! San Francisco's Mary Barensfeld Architecture was familiar with the ups and downs of sloping sites, so to speak, which is why they did so well with this hillside garden design here in Berkeley, California. The program called for an outdoor living and lounging area, with a seat at the very top of the slope to take in the view. Tucked between townhomes in this dense urban locale, Hilgard Garden is a veritable retreat of privacy, lush plantings, a lots of layers.

garden of a mid century town house in Berkeley, CA, steeply sloped site with an upper level patio, using a mix of concrete walls & steel to form terraced planting areas. Granite patio with reflecting pool, water-jet cut patterned weathering steel screens act as both planters & screens from neighbouring yards, by Mary Barensfeld Architecture

Tips for bringing modern design to your outdoor space

Concrete and timber built-in bench that can act as a retaining wall or garden bed. Timber with a square profile has been used for the seat cantilevered off the concrete. Outdoor fire pit - idea for front patio

combination of planter and bench with the black pebbled dividers like we are considering in front. L-Shaped Wooden Seating with Concrete back and Square Fire Pit with Rock Fire Glass in Modern Patio Design Ideas